After the split of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the summer of 1970, all four members would release solo albums over the next 12 months. Neil Young and Stephen Stills would both pursue independent band projects through the early years of the decade, Young working with Crazy Horse and the Stray Gators, with Stills assembling Manassas. Both If I Could Only Remember My Name and Songs for Beginners respectively by Crosby and Nash fared well in the marketplace, and in the autumn of 1971 the duo embarked on a series of concerts together, unable or unwilling to include Stills and Young. However, Stills joined them for the September 30 performance at Carnegie Hall in New York.[4] "Blacknotes" was recorded live, just before Stills took the stage for the second set.[5] Two other live recordings from this concert were released in 2006 on Crosby's Voyage Box Set: "The Lee Shore" and "Traction in the Rain."[6] All four members reunited at the Boston Music Hall on October 3[7] and back at Carnegie Hall the next night.[8] The success of the tour led Crosby and Nash to take the new songs auditioned on the road into the recording studio.
The songs continued the qualities that marked the pair's work with the larger aggregate, with Nash writing tighter pop songs including the album's hit, and Crosby exploring mood pieces and introspection, all amidst the duo's usual vocal harmonies. The commercial success of this album equaled that of the pair's two solo albums of the previous year, although it would not be until after the second break-up of CSNY following their 1974 summer tour that Crosby and Nash would sign an album contract as a unit with ABC Records. Following the release of this album, the duo toured in 1973 with a backing band including, at different times, David Lindley and future Eagles guitarist Don Felder.
The album was remastered for compact disc in 1998 as part of the Atlantic Original Sound series: 50 titles reissued in Europe to celebrate Atlantic Records' fiftieth anniversary. It is currently out of print, and American reissues still around use first generation digital remastering from the 1980s.
David Crosby – vocals all tracks except "Blacknotes"; electric guitar on "Whole Cloth", "Page 43", "Frozen Smiles", "Girl to Be on My Mind", "The Wall Song" and "Immigration Man"; guitars on "Southbound Train", "Where Will I Be?" and "Games"
Graham Nash – vocals; acoustic piano on "Whole Cloth", "Blacknotes", "Stranger's Room", "Frozen Smiles", "The Wall Song" and "Immigration Man"; Hammond organ on "Girl to Be on My Mind" and "The Wall Song"; harmonica on "Southbound Train", "Stranger's Room" and "Frozen Smiles"; guitar on "Southbound Train"
Additional personnel
Danny Kortchmar – electric guitar on "Whole Cloth", "Stranger's Room", "Page 43", "Frozen Smiles", "Games" and "Girl to Be on My Mind"
Craig Doerge – electric piano on "Whole Cloth", "Where Will I Be?" and "Frozen Smiles"; acoustic piano on "Page 43", "Games" and "Girl to Be on My Mind"; Hammond organ on "Stranger's Room"
Leland Sklar – bass on "Whole Cloth", "Stranger's Room", "Where Will I Be?", "Page 43", "Frozen Smiles", "Games" and "Girl to Be on My Mind"
